Untamed’s “Club Riot” begins with Three Six Mafia’s “Tear Da Club Up,” like its noting the bar previously set for rowdy, fuck-you-up hip-hop: From tearing the club up to an all-out riot. That iconic Three Six sample is just one part of the crowded, snapping, crashing music here though. Reflecting the general trend in horrifying dance music these days (to eschew explicit structure for something scarily one-note and crowded), producer Johnny Juliano doesn’t so much build-up energy as just sustain one level of hard-ass insanity for three minutes. Listen to the way PT Primetime steps in within a second or two of that iconic hook entering the mix, as if he’s unfazed by its status and just raps over it, like it’s another smack of percussion, which is kinda what it is here.
Unlike G-Side, that other Huntsville duo that don’t seem to do anything wrong, PT Primetime and AC Burna are an interesting rap duo precisely because they aren’t foils for one another. And they don’t really complement one another either. It’s more like they continue each other’s thoughts, just in slightly different, fevered tones, giving off the impression that if you upset one of them, you’d get both of them in front of you screaming threats and then, nimbly rapping those threats too. The approach is refreshingly straight-forward and lets the group avoid the rather hedged, narrowcasting take on rap (make one kind of song, over and over and over again) that’s taken over much of the underground as of late. These guys comfortably pull off songs like “Country” or “Gangsta” too. “Club Riot” is fueled by healthy homage and a surefooted desire to up the fight music ante, and the next group to come along, ready to make next-level, mad-as-hell, hard-as-fuck Southern chant rap that does to “Club Riot” what Untamed’s done to “Tear Da Club Up” have to call their song “Club Apocalypse” or something. From the upcoming Street Solid, presented by (you ready?) Baller’s Eve, I’m Not A Toy, Southern Hospitality, Traps N Trunks, and Dirty Glove Bastard.
The reason this blog was relatively silent about G-Side’s masterful Huntsville International was because of this article in this week’s Village Voice about G-Side, the new mixtape, and their connection to East Village Radio’s very awesome “Baller’s Eve”. In the process of doing the article, I managed to lose my driver’s license, spill Crystal Light all over my Macbook, hang-out in New York with G-Side and The Baller’s Eve dudes, as well as meet Joseph of “Geek Down” and yes, the Internets Celebrities Rafi and Dallas. Loads of fun. On the way back to Baltimore, I listened to Huntsville International for the first time and it just totally devastated me. I hope I was able to put some of that experience into words.
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